Just got back from a special press screening in Boston: Jerry Seinfeld, accompanied by directors Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith, flew into town from Toronto and helped introduce clips (totalling about 40 minutes) from their upcoming animated comedy Bee Movie (11/2, DreamWorks Animation). He was introduced by Doc Rivers, the legendary head coach of the Boston Celtics, and then came out and did some of his trademark opening shtick--you know, "What's the point of watching the weather? Someone came up to me on the street the other day and asked, 'Do you think it's gonna get cooler?' I said, 'Yeah. And then it's gonna get hotter. And then it's gonna be sunny, and rainy, and windy, and snowy. I think that's a pretty safe bet.'"

Seinfeld then introduced two upcoming television promos for the film that will run on NBC "for free," he boasted. "How do I get NBC to run advertisements to promote my movie for free, you ask? Well, a few years back, I had a little show on their network." The much funnier of the two features a conference with Seinfeld and a team of writers working on the Bee Movie script who are interrupted by a coffee boy's weak suggestion of a line... Seinfeld then asks him for his name, is told that it's Carl, asks what Carl does, is told that Carl is the coffee boy, and is then told by Seinfeld to essentially--pardon the pun--buzz off. After Carl leaves the room, a writer says to Seinfeld, "Do you know what Carl's last name is?" He responds, "No." The other guy says, "Spielberg." Seinfeld abruptly says, "I think we can still catch him in the parking lot." Fade to black. Fade back in, and Seinfeld is delivering coffee to Carl and the team of writers.

Then, Seinfeld turned the reins over to Hickner, who introduced approximately six segments of the film, which ran from roughly two to fifteen minutes in length. The general premise of the film is that Barry B. Benson (voiced by Seinfeld), a young bee with parents concerned that he marry someone who is also 'Beeish' (a play on 'Jewish'), ventures out of the hive, encounters the wonders (packaged honey! Cinnabons!) and surprises (windows, lightbulbs, windshield wipers, and, of course, humans who want his kind dead) of the outside world, and then breaks the cardinal bee law by revealing that bees can actually talk. He does so to express his gratitude to a woman (voiced by Renee Zellweger) who saved his life when her alpha friend tries to swat him. She is fond of him, and he falls hard for her, but theirs is a forbidden love that eventually lands him in a court (the presiding judge is voiced by Oprah Winfrey.) Other scenes feature the voices of Chris Rock, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Kathy Bates, Larry King, Rip Torn, Megan Mullally and, in a memorable self-mocking cameo, Ray Liotta.

Bottom line? We're looking at a beautifully animated (vibrantly colors, long tracking shots, etc.) and surprisingly funny film. I am somewhat dumbfounded by its November release date, since it strikes me as more of a summer sort of film, but perhaps it will prove to be a popular alternative to the more serious usual winter fare--it certainly has the potential to appeal across demographics. Ultimately, it will be an important test of the box-office potential of Seinfeld, and one nobody will be watching more closely than DreamWorks 'ani-maven' Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has gambled a large budget on Seinfeld despite the fact that the comedian has been off of television and largely unseen for a few years, and has never before appeared in a major motion picture.